Are you ready to enjoy the delectable fusion of Brussels sprouts and kale, a unique superfood that not only graces your garden with vibrant beauty but also elevates your culinary creations? Look no further than our Kalettes Plug Plants. These remarkable plants combine the best of two worlds, providing you with a source of inspiration for creative and healthy dishes. Here’s why these plug plants are a must-have for gardeners and food enthusiasts:
Garden Growth Guide:
Cultivating Kalettes is a delightful journey with our plug plants. Here’s how:
- Optimal Sunlight: Plant them in a sunny area with well-drained soil to ensure they flourish and produce a bountiful harvest.
- Adequate Spacing: Provide enough space between plants to accommodate their mature size, typically about 18-24 inches apart in rows.
- Regular Care: Keep the soil consistently moist and provide support for the plants as they grow, especially when laden with the unique Kalettes.
Harvesting Delight:
As your Kalettes plants mature, they will produce petite, frilly rosettes that combine the mild, nutty flavour of Brussels sprouts with the earthy notes of kale. Harvest them when the rosettes are about 1-2 inches in diameter, usually from late fall through winter.
Culinary Creativity:
Kalettes, with their distinctive flavour and versatility, are perfect for a range of dishes. Here are a couple of culinary ideas:
- Sautéed Kalettes: Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic, and sauté the Kalettes until they are tender and slightly crispy. Season with a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice for a quick and delicious side dish.
- Roasted Kalettes: Toss the Kalettes with olive oil, salt, and your favourite seasonings. Roast in the oven until they’re slightly caramelized and crispy, making for a delightful addition to any meal.
- Kalettes and Quinoa Bowl: Create a wholesome grain bowl by pairing steamed Kalettes with cooked quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes, and a drizzle of tahini dressing. A nutritious and flavourful meal that’s perfect for lunch or dinner.
Kalettes Plug Plants offer a unique and delicious addition to your garden and culinary repertoire, making them a perfect choice for adventurous gardeners and food enthusiasts. Order now to enhance your garden with these captivating plants and explore the exciting flavours they bring to your dishes.
Planning your site
Brassicas need deep, firm, moisture retentive soil and like to be planted in a sunny site whether grown in raised beds or a well dug veg patch. We would recommend giving your brassicas up to 45cm between them as they can get quite big (which is how we like them isnt it!)
Growing tips
When you plant your brassicas, a really top tip is to put a 10cm diameter circle of old carpet or cardboard on the soil around the stem. This is known as a brassica collar and it will protect your brassicas from the dreaded cabbage root fly. The plants should be spaced at around 60-80cm from each other, the Kalette is a big plant, it needs time and space to reach its full potential. Ideally the plants should be covered with a net for the first few months to help protect them from pests. The leaves on the Kalette plants should begin to drop as autumn begins, and the Kalettes themselves will start to mature from the bottom of the plant upwards. If you want to the leaves can be removed by hand which will help speed up maturity. The plants will have a fairly long harvest period and will usually produce a second flush of Kalettes over a season. Regular watering is very important during dry spells and you do not want your plants to dry out in general. Use a liquid nitrogen feed once they’ve started to produce new growth.
What to watch out for
Cabbage White Butterflies are a beautiful but terrible scourge of brassicas! They lay eggs on the plants which soon become very very hungry caterpillars which will decimate your crop unbelievably quickly. If you see white butterflies flitting around then shoo them away or even better, make sure your brassicas are well netted. This will also deter pigeons which are another major problem for good brassica growth. Flea beetles attack swedes and turnips though radishes are the worst affected. Whitefly may cover brassicas and great clouds of them will fly up when the leaves are disturbed though they don’t do too much damage on the whole. Cabbage root fly and club root infection are major problems for brassicas and we recommend that you familiarise yourself with the symptoms and management procedures if you are growing these plants.
What to do when your plants arrive
- Unpack them. Your seedlings will arrive carefully packed in bio-degradable straw, cardboard and paper. They may look a little bit bedraggled from their journey. Don’t panic – this is totally normal and they should soon perk up. Please try and unpack your plants as soon as they arrive, as every extra hour they spend in the box will add to the stress of travelling to their new home.
- Give them a drink. Having spent a day or two in the post, your new plants will be thirsty! Stand them up in some fresh water for a few minutes to make sure their roots have been thoroughly soaked before planting.
- Plant them out into their forever home! Your plants can’t wait to get their roots into the soil. Plant them out according to the instructions that will have come in the box with them. Make sure you water them in well, and give them plenty to drink until their roots have had a chance to get settled.
Substitutions
As you well know, plants are unpredictable creatures and so is the British weather. As such, we reserve the right to substitute items in your order for an equivalent variety. To find out more about substitutions, please take a look at our terms and conditions.
Delivery
We charge a flat shipping fee of £6.99 per shipping season. If you order everything from one season ie Spring you will be charged once, if you order Spring and Summer you will be charged twice etc. We do not ship outside of the UK.
Where can I send a gift card?
All of our products are available to send to UK addresses only. The products that the recipient can redeem their gift card on will only be mailed to a UK postal address. Postage is free for physical Gift Cards, as well as on the products that can be redeemed.
Terms and Conditions
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